Bodily fluid-filled baubles decorate Christmas tree on display in Grimsby gallery

A controversial Christmas tree has gone on display decorated with baubles containing blood, urine and other bodily fluids.

Shoppers in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, have been stopped in their tracks by the unconventional tree, which is on display in a window in Victoria Street as part of an art installation.

Dale Wells and Darren Neave, who run the Turntable Gallery, said they wanted to put a unique twist on traditional decorations to give people a "giggle".

The decorations also include a "deconstructed" Christmas dinner, Marmite, pork mince and wine.

Mr Wells said: "Those hollow plastic baubles that you see cropping up everywhere that people fill with glitter and that kind of thing - they scream for something to be done with them.

"What we decided to do is think of something a bit grosser that we could fill them with.

"There's a layer of blood in one. But then we thought, there's something that can be done with this, so we've come up with recipes, almost. And there's another one with urine, wine, glitter and food colouring, and then there's one with semen.

"We've got one with Anusol [haemorrhoids cream], aniseed and glitter; and one with the contents of the top shelf of our local magazine shop."

He added: "We wanted to do something a little more Turntable, a little more cheeky. I think people do realise what's in the baubles when they look.

"We've had a lot of people laughing, which is what we wanted. It's a bit dull and dismal at the moment and with all the other things that people are having to worry about, it's nice to walk down the high street and have a bit of a giggle."

The installation comes after the gallery held a Christmas exhibition in July called Winter Wonderlandfill, which also featured bodily fluids in bottles.

Members of the public are now being encouraged to make their own bauble for the tree.

Mr Wells said they hoped to "build up a community" around the Christmas tree.

He said: "If anybody wanted to make their own baubles for us, we can hang them on the tree. The more the merrier. There's no limits to what people can put in the baubles - you've seen what we've put in them."

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